Who We Are

Who is Eligible for Membership?

Any persons who worked for the Fish & Wildlife Service and are now retired and their spouses qualify for full membership. One’s entire career did not need to be with the Service to become a member. Associate membership is available to any person who has retired and demonstrates an interest in the mission of the Association.

More About Us

The Fish and Wildlife Service has long known that its greatest asset is its people and that its success as an agency is due to the contributions of those employees, both current and past. The Service’s History Committee made it a priority to recruit those who built the agency to continue to use their skills and experience in retirement, for the benefit of the agency and its mission.

We are a volunteer organization who are proud of our contributions to the Service in its leading role in the conservation and management of natural resources. We want to continue to contribute in whatever ways we can. We also want to ensure that the rich history and heritage of the Service and the contributions of its present and past employees are recognized and preserved.

By maintaining contact with current employees and the agency, retirees continue to promote the values and ideals developed during their careers. We provide historical background and perspective to help frame the past and influence current decisions. Retirees form important and vital links in the rich history and heritage of the Service — a chain of conservation work that is unified by shared commitments to fish, wildlife, and plants.

A Memorandum of Agreement signed in 2014 defines how Association and Service work together and can be found here. Click here to see the Association’s Bylaws, as revised August 16, 2024. Our Fiscal Policies and Procedures can be found here.

What We Do

Association members help to identify and preserve historical information and artifacts. Through the Oral History Project, retirees’ interview past Service employees to collect their stories and document evolution of the organization. Housed primarily at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, these artifacts and transcribed histories are available to current Service employees and others

The Association supports, financially and through work of its members, many major Service events, such as the Fishery Resources program’s 130th anniversary celebration and the National Wildlife Refuge System’s 2003 centennial events. We support valuable training and outreach that lead to a greater understanding of the natural world and the Service’s mission.

Retirees assist by serving on panels and committees, assisting in current employee development; contributing their expertise in times of national natural resource emergencies, and by funding assistance to Service offices celebrating major events.

The Association helps members transition smoothly into retirement. We facilitate interaction and camaraderie among retirees and between retirees and active Service employees.  We maintain a database to assist members locate and contact former friends and colleagues.  We host a website. We post a periodic newsletter to help members keep abreast of what’s going on with other retirees and what’s happening within the Service and the conservation community in general. For those who wish to continue to be involved with conservation activities and issues, the Association publishes notices of opportunities to participate in projects worldwide.

Reunions have been held throughout the U.S. since 1999 in a social setting of storytelling and reminiscing and the presentation of informative workshops of importance to Government retirees.  It brings together former colleagues, who are also good friends, and present-day Service employees are invited to join us. Reunions are held at various locations and venues throughout the country. Click here for Information on previous and upcoming reunions.

The Association of Retired Fish & Wildlife Service Employees is a chartered, non-profit membership organization.  The Association is also known as the FWS Retirees Association.  Association activities are directed by a 9-member elected Board of Directors.  The main purpose of the Association is to recognize and preserve the rich history of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the many contributions of its present and past employees, to foster the preservation and use of the historical treasures, documents, objects, and information of the Service’s unique history and values in World leading natural resource conservation, and to involve present and past employees in the history and heritage of the Fish and Wildlife Service.  The Association (DLN 17053289033043) qualifies as an organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, meaning it has met the requirement of a tax-exempt, non-profit entity and can also accept grants and contracts to further its goals.   

Retirees through their direct contributions to the Service’s archival collection, participating in the oral history project of digital taped or video accounts of Service history in the making, and through their reunions, assure that one of the Service’s most valuable resources, its people, are neither discarded nor forgotten and are a source of pride and motivation for future Fish & Wildlife Service policy and actions.  Retired employees interact by serving on panels and committees when requested, assisting in current employee development, training, and knowledge of the past through the experiences of retirees during their active-duty assignments, by contributing their expertise in times of national natural resource emergencies, and by shared funding with Service offices celebrating major events.

FWS Retirees Brochure

Click here to take a look at our FWS Retirees Association brochure!

Watch the FWS Retirees Association Video

A video is available on YouTube called “Join the FWS Retirees Association”. Featuring interviews with FWS HIstorian Mark Madison, Pacific Region Retiree Jerry Grover and Board of Directors Member Dr. Mamie Parker, the video covers the history of the Association, the benefits of joining and how to join (if you’re not already a member!), and some of the activities members participate in – especially the reunions!